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Dethfire, there are many flavours of Unix that are all more or less the same OS but for different architectures. Generally Unix distributions are therefor provided by the hardware vendor for their hardware.

If you want to run a Unix OS on your PC then the choice is between one of the many distributions of Linux or BSD. (I'm sure there are others such as Sun Solaris, but you won't be intersted in those).

Some (I say some as there are so many) distrobutions of Linux are: Redhat, Madrake, SuSe, Slackware, Caldera, and there are plenty more.

Some flavours of BSD are FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD.

Linux is popular because most of the distros package the core OS as well as a choice of different GUI desktop environments (KDE and/or GNOME) and a whole heap of bells and whistles that PC users will be used to. BSD is popular OS for a web server because some argue it is more robust and secure.

As for getting your hands on Linux. Where I live, their is a popular (unofficial, but perfectly legal) set of CDs (that include RedHat and Mandrake) and pocket guide that you can pick up from any newsagency for about US$10. While you can dl and install Linux over the net, it is much easier (and quicker) to get a cheap distro on CD.

They are... Linux is not the same as Unix but they are similar enough that many people lump them together.

The main difference is that UNIX is a lot more scalable than Linux and is capable enough to run on PC's to the largest MainFrames. You would use the same AIX (Advanced IBM uniX) cd's to install that OS on a PC (with one processor) as you would an AS/400 (but these have OS/400 as well, which simply wipes the floor with Unix) or an RS/6000 (with 64 processors).

Most applications available for Unix will run on Linux but not all of them. Many large scale enterprise applications or those that use low end registers must be recompiled for each OS.

Unless you are running a large server with 8 or more processors, Linux will most likely suit your needs. Without the added cost of running a Unix system (AIX costs like $1000, HP/UX and Sun Solaris are also pricey).

note: Apple used to sell a version of unix for the Mac also called AIX. Which was short for Apple unIX.